Brazil: Indigenous squatters living by Rio's Maracana stadium resist eviction; police close in

A man wearing a headdress and another wearing a ski mask sit on a windowsill on the site of an old Indian museum, now abandoned, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013. Police in riot gear on Saturday surrounded the abandoned museum, now an indigenous settlement of men and women living in 10 homes, preparing to enforce their eviction. Their settlement is next to the Maracana stadium, which is being refurbished to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup. The streets around the stadium will also undergo a vast transformation as part of the area's transformation into a shopping and sports entertainment hub. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (The Associated Press)

A man wearing a headdress and another wearing a ski mask sit on a windowsill on the site of an old Indian museum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013. Police in riot gear on Saturday surrounded the site, now an indigenous settlement of men and women living in 10 homes, and prepared to enforce their eviction. The settlement is next to the Maracana stadium, pictured in background, which is being refurbished to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup. The streets around the stadium will also undergo a vast transformation as part of the area's transformation into a shopping and sports entertainment hub. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (The Associated Press)

An Indian man wearing a headdress and holding a bow and arrow stands behind two policemen in riot gear on the site of an old Indian museum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013. Police on Saturday surrounded the site, now an indigenous settlement of men and women living in 10 homes, and prepared to enforce their eviction. The settlement is next to the Maracana stadium, which is being refurbished to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup. The streets around the stadium will also undergo a vast transformation as part of the area's transformation into a shopping and sports entertainment hub. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (The Associated Press)

Police in riot gear are surrounding a settlement of indigenous people next to Rio de Janeiro's storied Maracana stadium.

The police commander on site, Lt. Alex Melo, says they are waiting for an eviction order. However, after a tense, day-long standoff, the order was not in hand.

The indigenous group includes people of about 10 ethnicities. They have been squatting for years on the site of an old Indian Museum abandoned since 1977.

The residents say the law is on their side. The land was donated by a wealthy Brazilian to the state in 1847 to become a center of indigenous culture.

Now, however, the area around the stadium is being refurbished in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and authorities say the compound must go.